Category: travel tips

As I prepare for my trip to Washington D.C. and Philadelphia, I’ve been keeping my eyes open for other places to check out locally. After doing some research, I found a park not too far from me called, “Albany Bulb” which is located in the Albany Waterfront next to the Golden Gate Fields race track. The Bulb was known to be a landfill for construction materials until 1987, when it went through a series of legal issues. The park later became a homeless encampment, a place for teenagers to wild out, and a perfect place for dog owners to let their pets run about. So I bet you’re wondering why a woman like me with no dogs would be interested in seeing this piece of land, let alone an old construction dump!

Even though I consider myself a newbie when it comes to travel and photography, I always tend to find beauty in almost everything, including landfills. 😂 Albany Bulb just isn’t a place for hikers and dog walkers, this oasis is surrounded by sculptures and graffiti art painted on concrete slabs. It’s an art lovers haven. The further you hike, the more you see.

I took my son with me to check this out. I made a huge mistake by pulling up directions from my Yelp App (travelers beware! Do not use Yelp to navigate. It gave me the wrong directions.) I ended up parking my car at Point Isabel, which is a huge dog park next to the water. There were dogs everywhere!

TIP: Point Isabel is a Dog Park. 🐶 And parking is very limited, especially on a weekend. On a happier note, they have restrooms 😂

Anyway, my son and I took the San Francisco Bay Trail from Point Isabel which is a mile away from Albany Bulb. The trail’s path ran parallel between Interstate 80 and the water. The walk wasn’t pleasant since the freeway is literally next to the trail. We arrived about 45 minutes later. And yes, it took us 45 minutes to walk a mile and a half. Mind you, my son is 6 and gets easily distracted.

Another TIP: If you’re with little ones, unless you own a bicycle with multiple seats, do NOT park at Point Isabel if you don’t want to walk a mile and a half!

We walked towards the sandy area where we came across more dogs running about. From that area, you can either hang out on the beach (watch out for poop) or catch a distant glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge. There wasn’t much to see. After that, we took another trail towards the south end of the Bulb where we came across a castle made out of scavenged rebar, plaster, and concrete.

“Mad Mark’s Castle” was completed in 2000 however, it deteriorated through the years. This is a before and after pic of the castle.

The before pic was taken by a photographer named Peter Merts. The second photo was captured from my camera.

My son and I hung out at the castle for the most part. The castle offers a panoramic view of the ocean and the Golden Gate Bridge. We didn’t get to explore the rest of the Bulb since we had a long walk back to Point Isabel, however, I do plan on returning so I can check out the sculptures and the rest of the art work.

Balmy Alley is a block long alley filled with a collection of colorful murals located in the Mission District between 24th street and Garfield Square. The alley includes a current painting of the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, a mural describing gentrification in the Mission, and human rights. The earliest mural in the alley date to 1972 painted by a woman named Maria Galivez and children in a local child care center.

Here is a video from my recent visit to Balmy Alley (dated March 2017). Please note that if you plan on visiting the alley in the future, the murals constantly change so some of the artwork that you see in my video may not be there when you do decide to go.

This photo was taken from one of the alleyways off 24th Street. Throughout the Mission, you will find murals and graffiti art painted on walls and fences.

I grew up down the street near Dolores Park. My family rented an an apartment off 16th and Dolores. In the early 1970’s to early 80’s, my family paid roughly around $300 a month for rent. But since the tech boom in the 90’s and recent years, young professionals moved into the neighborhood initiating gentrification, raising rent and housing prices. I was browsing on YouTube and found this video describing gentrification in the Mission District. The neighborhood has changed a lot since I moved out of San Francisco. Check it out!

PLACES TO VISIT

Mission San Francisco de Asis (Mission Dolores Church), the oldest standing building in San Francisco, located on 16th and Dolores

Dolores Park (located near the Mission Dolores Church) I will cover more about Dolores Park another day

“I hate food.” said no one ever! Dozens of taquerias are located throughout the neighborhood. If you’re craving tacos, the Mission District is the epicenter of authentic Mexican Food. It is also know to have a high concentration of Guatemalan, Salvadorean, and Nicaraguan restaurants. If you want to try a really good burrito, I highly recommend Papalote SF off 24th and Mission – don’t leave the restaurant without taking home a jar of their Roasted Tomato Salsa!

🚩CrysTIP:

Public Transportation is highly recommended to avoid spending countless minutes looking for a parking spot. If you plan to travel by BART, you can either get off at the 16th Street Bart Station or 24th Street Bart Station. By bus, you can take the 14 MISSION.

I will be posting a lot about the de Young Museum on my blog in the future since it’s one of my favorite fine arts museums to visit in San Francisco. The de Young is located in Golden Gate Park next to the very kid friendly California Academy of Sciences.

🚩CrysTips:

Take public transportation, it’s a lot cheaper than paying for parking. The muni bus stops less than a block away from the museum.

Admission is $15 for adults, FREE for the youngsters 17 years and under

Take the elevator up to the Observation deck and catch a 360° view of the Golden Gate Park and parts of the city.

Don’t forget your camera!

The life-sized “Delilah” white marble sculpture by William Wetmore Story is shown on display at the de Young.

“Delilah” was a character in the Hebrew Book of Judges. She was known as the ‘woman in the valley of Sorek’ whom Samson loved and who was his downfall.

Samson was one of the last judges of the Ancient Israelites mentioned in the Book of Judges. It has been said that Samson loved Delilah yet she betrayed him and she did it for money. Delilah was known to be one of the dangerous temptresses in the Hebrew Bible.

Well, here I am typing up my first blog post after being on a blogging hiatus lol. You can blame my super hectic schedule. But since I’m on a quick lunch break, I’ll try to squeeze in as much as I can about my background and why I decided to start this new journey.

My name is Crystal but people call me “Crys” for short. I’m a Filipina-american San Francisco Bay Area native. Yup! Born and raised in California. I decided to create this blog to talk more about the images I post on social media and share some history behind each photograph. To be honest, I’m not a professional photographer with a super expensive camera. I’m just a regular gal who just loves to take pictures of everything I find beautiful. Furthermore, I will also be sharing some travel tips for solo travelers, families traveling with kids, especially single parents traveling with kids, and people traveling on a tight budget, like myself. I’m a single mom and always believed that the world was bigger than just the Bay Area.

Everyone can travel – even if it’s just domestically or local and that’s why I’m here. But first, I would like to cover some local spots in the Bay Area for the local traveler. In the future, I’ll also be sharing some upcoming events that may interest you and recommend great local food vendors.

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